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The Codex’s Best Computer RPGs (pre-Diablo)

MSP

Educated
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
Messages
13
4: Wizardry 7
3: Albion
2: Dungeon Master 2
1: Arena

Also, no Jagged Alliance? I remember how happy I was when I managed to bypass 8MB RAM requirements (only had 4MB) by installing Windows 3.11 and using virtual memory. Slow as hell, but worth it.
 

Erebus

Arcane
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
4,763
3 : Dark Queen of Krynn
2 : Champions of Krynn
2 : Betrayal at Krondor
2 : Dark Sun : Shattered Lands
1 : Might and Magic 5 : Darkside of Xeen
 

visions

Arcane
Joined
Jun 10, 2007
Messages
1,801
Location
here
4 points: Quest for Glory 4
3 points: Quest for Glory 1 (Hero's Quest)
2 points: Quest for Glory 2
1 point: Dark Sun 1

I've briefly tried a bunch of the old classics and usually found them a bit hard to approach and also I have often had little patience to deal with the cumbersome UIs at the time and hence I've saved them for a later time when I can muster up the effort. Some others I've found quite easy to approach but ultimately on the boring side (for instance Arena, Daggerfall). In general I'm not a huge gamer compared to most people here but I'll still throw in my 5 cents.

I found Quest for Glory (starting with the EGA text parser version of QfG 1) and Dark Sun quite easy to get into and intuitive, even though I'm barely older than QfG 1. So even though I haven't played many games in the list at length, I think the easy approachability of QfG and Dark Sun (which lead me to play through them, rather than file them away for later after briefly trying them) is a strong point in their favor. I think Dark Sun should be quite easily approachable to people who've played the IE games, TOEE and/or Knights of the Chalice. As for QfG, I was surprised how easy I found to get into an EGA text parser adventure-rpg hybrid.

It's hard to pick a favorite between Quest for Glory 1 and 4 but ultimately I liked 4 a bit more. Cooler setting, great soundtrack, more spells to play with, also I think it has the most soul of all the games in the series (basically if it sang the blues, I would listen). QfG 1 comes next, as the game that established the basics of the series and has quite a bit of charm (athough the setting is vanilla but this kind of standard European fairy tale feeling also has its appeal). I liked QfG 2 a bit less but it's still really cool and I liked how you could get lost in the desert and die of dehydration there. Also I think the QfG games lost something when they got rid of the text parser, interacting with a text parser is more engaging and fun than just clicking on stuff. The ability to take your character all the way through 5 games is another really cool thing about QfG that is quite unique compared to most game series (I know some Gold Box games for example also let you do that but in general it's not a feature that shows up often). I'd like to see more QfG clones, something about this kind of rpg and adventure game hybrid really appeals to me (I've played Heroine's Quest and Quest for Infamy is on my to play list).

Regarding Dark Sun, the setting is cool, the combat system is fun and the start of the game and the last battle are very cool but a lot of the midgame suffers from trivial difficulty (if you make a party with mostly or all three class hybrids, but then again so few D&D games let me play Druid/Fighter/Psionicist or similar multiclass chars with no equipment restrictions, so why wouldn't I take the chance when I get it?), which lessens the combatfag appeal, so I'll give it one point. Also the soundtrack is great (if you have a decent MIDI setup to appreciate it at least).
 

Major Seven

Educated
Patron
Joined
Mar 1, 2017
Messages
56
Very tough choice, so many good games!

2 - Wizardry I
2 - Darklands
2 - Wizardry VII
2 - Rogue
2 - Pool of Radiance
 

Rincewind

Magister
Patron
Joined
Feb 8, 2020
Messages
2,427
Location
down under
Codex+ Now Streaming!
Betrayal at Krondor (RPGs generally don't do "story" right, but this game does, and does it on a phenomenally shitty flight simulation engine)

Yes, and imagine my disappointment when I realised I just don't care about the story much (it just didn't grab me, very cookie-cutter cliched high fantasy stuff, plus there's too much random silliness). That leaves you with an okayish adventure with a really shitty interface plus some quite alright combat.

I can see it could be good if you're really into the story though. Although, I still can't get over that whole chapter business and taking away your characters without warning. Hate that shit.
 

Stormcrowfleet

Aeon & Star Interactive
Developer
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
1,020
3 - Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (objectively the best of the three)

3 - Darklands (the most ambitious and crazy of the three)

3 - Eye of the Beholder (the one I had the most fun of the three)

1 - Betrayal at Krondor (because it's really cool)

Special mention: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession
 

Humanophage

Arcane
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
5,032
My favourite two are Alter Ego (1986) and ADOM (1994, if it counts). But they are not on the list.

4 - Ultima VII: The Black Gate
3 - Darklands
2 - Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
1 - Princess Maker 2

Frankly, I think strategies and adventures were more fun at the time. Master of Magic, Master of Orion I and II, Civilization I and II, Sim City 2000, X-Coms, Sam and Max Hit the Road, Woodruff, Day of the Tentacle, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, etc. are more memorable or more enticing to me.

(Admittedly, there is the fact that the pirated versions of older RPGs kept crashing more than other interesting genres. Ravenloft had fun character generation but then kept crashing, and crashing, and crashing.)
 
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Stormcrowfleet

Aeon & Star Interactive
Developer
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
1,020
Special mention: Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession

I always found the Ravenloft games to be fucking hard. I don't know if it was the real time combat attached to a non-grid movement scheme but man it was just pure chaos.
I'll be honest I never managed to finish it. But I do think it had some great ideas and it's always nice to see good adaptation of actual D&D books/campaign/mechanics into video games.
 

Beans00

Augur
Joined
Aug 27, 2008
Messages
930
I can only vote on games I've actually played

5 points
Betrayal at krondor
3 points
dungeon master
2 points
world of aden thunderscape
 

Dr Skeleton

Arcane
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
811
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - 3 points
Albion - 3 points
Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager - 2 points
Lands of Lore - 2 points

There’s a couple more I’ve played, but I don’t remember much about them.
 

APGunner

Augur
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
Messages
119
5 points each:
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant
 

MicoSelva

backlog digger
Patron
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
7,480
Location
Vigil's Keep
Codex 2012 Codex 2013 Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Divinity: Original Sin 2 Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I helped put crap in Monomyth
(edited to add more commentary and spoiler tag)

I can appreciate those older RPGs for their accomplishments at the time, but the truth is I have not played that many of them. One of the reasons is that we were poor and I only got my first PC in 1998.
While over the years I tried many of the classics, I did bounce off quite a few of them, including some of the most revered ones (Wasteland, Gold Box games, early Ultimas and Might and Magics, Darklands, Daggerfall). Others, which look up my alley, I still have not had the time and will to try (Arkania, Dark Sun, Lands of Lore, Ultima 7, Xeen, Wizardry 6 & 7).

So here are those which I actually did like enough to play many hours of them:

Albion: 4 points
Betrayal at Krondor: 4 points
Yendorian Tales Book 1 Chapter 2: 2 points
 
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Lord_Potato

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 24, 2017
Messages
9,835
Location
Free City of Warsaw
We then started arguing over what was a commercial enough release, what had a large following at the time, and what was and wasn't a CRPG and decided to just go forward with what he had. Feel free to vote for a game not on the list as some have. Although the list isn't perfect, the Ring of Prestigious Gentlemen felt that the posted list was the best we could agree upon without having to go into another week or two of debates about whether or not the game was a CRPG or had enough popularity to have a chance of making it as more than just an outlier.

Ok, thanks for the clarification!

So now I can vote! Hopefully my selection will help to keep blobbers away from top 3 spots :)

3 points - Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
2 points - System Shock
2 points - Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
2 points - Realms of Arkania 2: Star Trail
1 point - Conan: the Cimmerian
 

Fowyr

Arcane
Vatnik
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
7,671
I always found the Ravenloft games to be fucking hard. I don't know if it was the real time combat attached to a non-grid movement scheme but man it was just pure chaos.
There is a magical returning dagger. It's best weapon in the game.
 

Mortmal

Arcane
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
9,158
i know 'rpg' stands for 'game i really like' but calling system shock 1 an rpg is not even a matter of opinioun at this point it's just patently wrong
Not a rpg , but what you write on the dex are not reviews either , still doesnt prevent us to enjoy them.
 

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